White Flour - A Vets Perspective

Oct 08, 2013

Mark Campbell's letter on White Flour.

White Flour – A Vet’s Perspective

Food vs Confectionery

Is there really a difference between wholemeal and white flour? From a vet’s point of view at least, the difference is massive. One is a complete food capable of raising a chicken from egg to laying bird. Add a little bit of dirt for trace elements and you can do it for multiple generations. If someone did feed a batch of day old chicks on white bread the results would be catastrophic: those which did not die of intestinal bacterial overgrowths in the first few weeks would never survive past sixteen weeks.

If a vet incorporated more than a very small amount of white flour in the ration of any species he or she would be in trouble – intestinal problems, joint problems, obesity, dental disease and vascular disease rates would all increase in a predictable fashion. The starch in the finely ground flour breaks down to glucose within seconds of exposure to enzymes in the saliva and stomach. Chew slowly on a piece of white bread; within seconds you’ll notice it’s liquefying and soon pretty much absorbed; with brown bread you’ll notice it becomes much stickier and far less liquidised.

White flour has only been available for just over one century – until then all flour was wholemeal. Wheat is structured a bit like a Saturn V rocket – the outer shape is formed by the bran, the rocket fuel is the starchy endosperm, and the small concentrated control module is the germ, which uses the “fuel” to blast out of the soil to get to the sunlight. The invention of high speed milling allowed the separation of the milled product into different streams – one with all the germ and bran and a little of the starchy endosperm; and one with only that starchy bit which is what we know as white flour. The white flour also contains most of the gluten or wheat protein.

White flour makes wonderful cakes and scones – but it isn’t a complete food by a long, long way.

My belief is that we humans have accidentally fallen into the trap of thinking flour is flour – and it isn’t. One is an almost complete food, the other is a confectionery.

Growing the right bugs....

The biggest problems with getting rid of the “good bits” form a vet’s perspective is the loss of the bits that contain the stuff that grows “good” bacteria inside whatever animal is eating it. There’s also the loss of some vitamins and minerals, which are important too – but it’s the bacterial problems and the lack of several types of fibre and other less immediately digestible carbohydrates, that causes most of the issues. Two important types which just don’t seem to get enough attention:

FOS (Fructose oligo-saccharides). These short chains of fructose (fruit sugar) can’t be digested by animals – but there are bacteria in the lower small intestine that LOVE them. If there’s plenty of FOS in the diet, then these bugs are effectively preferentially fed – if there isn’t, lots of nasty bugs can grow, which may be potentially pathogenic (able to cause disease) or simply don’t produce some other good products that the “good bugs” do (some of the B vitamins for instance). Wholemeal has lots of FOS, white flour almost none

Semi-fermentable Fibre Sometimes known as partially fermentable fibre. Once inside an animal, fibre is best described as fermentable, semi-fermentable or non-fermentable. Basically the intestinal tract is a fermentation system, and of course what you put in to the system determines very much what grows in the system. Non-fermentable fibre includes woody structures – only termites can digest it. Highly fermentable fibre can produce a lot of gas – think beans etc. Semi-fermentable fibre is really good – it is broken down by bugs in the lower intestines into various things including a few fatty acids. What’s important about that is that one of those fatty acids – butyric acid, which has two carbon molecules – is the only real food for the cells lining the colon. There is excellent experimental work showing the thickness of that lining layer can actually double (i.e. the cells are really happy and grow well) when the level of semi-fermentable fibre in a diet is increased. It’s not unfair to postulate that happy cells are less likely to get all sorts of problems, up to and including cancer. What is definitely true is that animals fed good levels of these fibres have far better bowel function. It’s also a fact that animals have far lower levels of bowel cancer than humans, though of course there are other factors involved.

There are other substances too – for instance molecules that act a bit like gelatine when wet to bind all the food together (think how porridge is formed from dry oats), making it digest just a little slower, which is better for both the satiety (feeling full) effect and for reducing the load on the cells that make insulin. But for a vet, the ones that grow good bugs are critical, and it seems to me we humans don’t think of that factor nearly enough when we think of what’s “in” the food we eat.

Firstly, we just need to be aware there’s a difference, most people are more than capable of modifying what they eat if they find there’s a reasonable argument to do so.

Secondly, we should consider encouraging the use of flour containing at least 50% wholemeal flour for all manufactured and takeaway hamburger buns and flour-based pizza bases. If that has to be done via legislation, then so be it. It is fair to propose the theory that we could see savings in the health costs within six months in some areas. It is almost certain we would see considerable savings within three years, and that these would accrue and multiply over the coming decades.

Summarising.....

I’m more than aware that at first glance it can sound like I’m selling a religion with this “not all flours are the same” idea. I’m not – it’s just a fact, plain and simple. It doesn’t mean you can’t eat food containing white flour – I do it all the time – but we simply must know the difference and eat more wholemeal, “unrefined” foods

Over the past twenty years, many of my friends have taken great delight ribbing me in true Australian fashion about it; even the surfboat crew I row with is now called South Curl Curl “White Bread” (they wanted “White Bread is the Devil” but it was knocked back as too long for the commentators). But they all eat wholemeal bread – well, more than they used to, even when I’m not around....

Comments

Thank you Mark Campbell for a great article.
I remember hearing you on Australia All Over and I cheered you all the way.
I provide a neurofeedback service which balances the central nervous system improving the efficiency of an individual's brain function, plus their sleep pattern.
I educate my clients on nutrition and probiotics to further enhance the process I use. Your article is on my information board for all my clients to read plus I hand out copies to clients ensuring it ends up in their home for more individuals to read.
My family back ground is farming and our local vet is a valued and necessary person to ensure the health of our stock and working dogs. Over the years, the added benefit of this association, is that I have personally learnt so much more about nutrition for the health and welfare of my family.
I hope the necessary "people in power" read and research the facts you have presented.
A healthy body, a healthy mind and yes, less financial pressure on our health system.

Thank you Macca for giving this article priority on your page.

I enjoy your show and make my Sunday morning a special time to share with Macca.